Steering-gear lock



April 13,1926. 1,580,881

W. GANZ 'STEERING GEAR LOCK Filed oct. 14, 1921 CTI Patented pr. 13, 1926.

Unirse sra'rss A assaggi earner orifice.

Winnen: GAN-Z, or arnsnrrnnn PARK, new JERSEY, Assiettes "ro BAUER Vnoon COMPANY, or CHICAGO, ILLiNoIs av conteo-narran or DELAWARE.

srnnmneenan LoCK.

Application aledoember 14, 1912i. serial no. 507,729.

T0 all whom t may conce/m.'

Be it known that I, YVILLIAM GANZ", a citizeny of the United States, residing' at Ridgefield Park, in the county or' Bergen and State oi New Jersey, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Steering-Gear Locks, or' which the folloiving is a specification.

. This invention relates to .steering gears for automobiles and has Vfor its principal object ,to provide a lconnection betiveenY the steering Wheel and the steering,v shaft Whereby they may be securely locked together for service, and as securely locked separate when itl is desired to put the antoniobile out of service.

Another object of this invention is to provide a"V structureof this kind which vwill efectually resist the attempts of nn'autho'izec'l persons to secure the Wheel to the steering shaft.

Another object is to provide a structure in which driving engagement betfiveen the Wheel andthe shaft is absolutely impossible lwhen the loclf is in the proper position.

Further objects of the invention vil'l become apparent as the description is read in connection with the Aacc'onipa'nyingudrawing showing' a selected embodiment of the in` vention, and in Which-' yFig. 1 is a sectional vienv7 showin-g3' the devices in position to lock the `Wheel 'to the steering shaft;

Fig. Qui's 4a transverse section on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1; y

Fifi. 8 is a transverse sectional view on the ll-ne 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective vi'e\`v of a collar Secured to "the steering shaft.

Fig. 5 is a vienjillustrating a 'm'odilied orrn of partof niy invention.

`In the selected embodiment here illustrated, I have shown the device` applied to a `well known ty'pe oi antoin'obile in which the steering lcoluinn has lat its upper end a gear housingv for planetary gearing `11 by which the upper section 12 of they steering shaft drives the lotver seotioifi, not sh'oivn. In applying niy invention, I re1novejtlre usual .cover to the gearlcase 10 and replace it with a steel cap 13 having;I at its upper side a tubular flange 14 surrounding' the spindle 12. Jonrnaled on this flange is the hub 15,61' a barrel adapted to be seciir'edto the hub of the Wheel; In either case, this elfeinent is oit snlic'ient length to Vextend :from the cover portion/ot the. cap 13 to a p'oin't above the end fthe shaft 12, connter-bore'd 'to forni a Vshoulder 16.

'and yit is collar 17 isL mounted onl 'thesh'att 1Q and su'cient to steer the Wheelsfoi the' vehicle.

I have found it very vsatisfli'ctery tom-alie the collar about one-'sint-y-t'onrth (1v/Gli)l or an inch smaller all around than tire'bore of the hub. A 'nut '19 is screwed Vonthe thread` edv end` 20 'of the 'shaft 'and against tli'e'upper` side 'ot the collar 19. nut againstY 'uiniiithforized reni'oval, ont a key-tray in the shait and the nut and drive therein a hardened steel key htaling; care to place the upper end foi" the ley ,slightly below the sur-race of the n ut 1K9. The lrey tva'yis made somewhatsnaller than the key so 'that Considerable ii'orce 4is required to drive the vkey, to Vthe position shonfn, vand vTo secure this.

correspondingly considerabletorce Wonld be 12, II provide the collar 17 with a plurality.

'of 'openings 22 adapted to receive 'a pin 23 slidably mounted inthe socket 2li in the hub "15" of the vheel, which is Conveniently equipped nfithnann 'enlargement E25 on one sidethereof.v Preferably the pin 23 `is inserted from' the right in Fig.' 1 and atter- `y'v'aifds the end of the'socke't is' permanently closed by ping' .26 `which may be secnred in place in any suitable inanner. A spring 27 having one end against the ping 9C and vthe"'otlir end in a suitable seat 28 in the pin 23 norinallyV teilrds' to hold the lpin in one of the sockets 2Q in the collar 17. A lock 29 mounted in the enlargement Q5 oi: the Wheel hub and secured in platre by a screi'v 30 or other suitable device is equipped with an eccentric pin 31 projecting intol a groove 82 in. QSNvhereby the pinr may be retractedjfroin the socket L2 in the collar 1T, or allowed to slide into said socket by proper Aopemu'tti'oii of the key 33.

4The up'p'er end of the hub 15 may be closefd With a cap 34 of any suitable kind, tvhichwinay be 'ornamental or, carry any 'identification device' desired.

housing 10 so that a removal can only be accomplished by destruction of the cap Ior the housing, or both, and the locking of the nut 19, as above described, malres'it practically impossible to remove that nut in order to attempt a taking apart of the device by an unauthorized person. The loer :29, el course, will be suchY as to resist skillful lock pickers and will be secured in the hub so that it cannot be removed without destroying the lock or the hub, oi both.V

It will therefore be apparent that' without the use of the lrey 33 it will be practically impossible to move the pin 23 into one of the sockets so as to permit the vehicle to be steered. rIhe difference in the diameters of the hub 15 and the collar 17, together with the proper boring between the hub and the flange 1e makes it impossible to wrench the wheel to the side orV otherwise obtain a binding engagement between the hub and the collar 17 that would effect the steering of the wheel when the pin 23 is withdrawn from its socket in the collar 17.

The shoulder 16 is of ample width to provide proper Contact with the lower' face of collar 17, and the length of the flange 14 is sufhcient to give the wheel a steady mounting, preventing the looseiiess common in other devices of this general character with which I am familiar.

I prefer to provide a flange 35 on the cap 13 surrounding the lower end of the hub 15 to make it impossible to bind the hub to the collar 17 by wedging or pryingv against bottom of the hub.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a modified form of lock for nut 19. The nut has a passage 36 adapted to align with one of a series of sockets 37 in the collar 17 and provide a tight fitting receptacle for a locking pin 38. By making the bores in the nut and collar, a close driving fit and driving the hardened pin below the surface of the nut, it is practically impossible to take the device apart without destroying the parts and attracting attention.

I am aware that a considerable number of changes in the construction and arrangement of parts might readily be made by anyone skilled in the art without departing from the scope of my invention and I do not care to be limited to the particular einbodiment herein shown and described.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, a steering column, having a housing at its upper end, a cap permanently secured to said housing and having a cylindrical flange thereon, a steering shaft in said steering column and projecting through said cylindrical flange, a steering wheel having a hub embracing and journalled on said cylindrical flange and loosely embracing the upper portion of the steering shaft, and means for engaging said steering wheel with said steen ing shaft above the cylindrical flange, or disengaging it therefrom at will.

2. In a device of the class described, a

steering column, a steering shaft journalled therein and projecting thereabove, a cover permanently secured to said steering column and having a flange surrounding said steering shaft, a wheel hub embracing and journalled on said flange and loosely embracing the upper portion of the steering shaft a collar permanently secured to said shaft, above the flange, and a loclr carried by said wheel adapted to effect a driving engagement between said wheel and said collar.

3. In a device of the class described, a steering column, a cover secured to said column and havinga flange projecting upwardly therefrom, a steering wheel having a hub embracing and journalled on said flange and counter-bored above the flange to form an internal shoulder, a steering shaft projecting from said steering column through said flange, said hub loosely embracing the upper portion of the steering shaft, a collar secured to said shaft above the flange and within said counterbore, said collar overhanging the shoulder within the bore of the wheel, means for securing said collar to said shaft permanently, and a loci( carried by said wheel hub and adapted to engage said collar to effect a driving connection between said wheel hub and said shaft.

4. The combination with a steering col umn having a gearing case at the upper end, a steering shaft projecting abovev said case, a cap secured to said case and having a Aflange forming a bearing for said shaft, a

steering wheel journalled on said flange and having an internal shoulder, a collar secured to said shaft above said shoulder and means for locking said wheel to said collar.

5. The combination with a steering column having a gearing case at the upper end, a steering shaft projecting above said case, a cap secured to said case and having a flange forming a bearing for said shaft, a steering wheel journalled on said flange and .having an internal shoulder, a collar of con- ;siderably smaller diameter than the bore of the hub secured to said shaft and engaging said shoulder and a hey-controlled bolt for locking said wheel on said collar.

6. The combination with a steering col umn having a gear case at its upper end, a cap carried by said gear case and having a cylindrical flange projecting upwardly therefrom, a. steering shaft journalled in said flange, a steering wheel journalled on said flange and having a shoulder in its bore, a collar on said steering shaft and engaging said shoulder, a nut threaded on said shaft against said collar and a hardened key driven below the surface of said nut and locking said nut in place.

7. The combination with a steering colu1nn having a gear, case at its upper end, a cap secured to said gear caseand havinga cylindrical flange extending upwardly therefrom, a steering shaft journalled n said l-ange, a Steering Wheel journalled on said lange, means for locking' said steering' Wheel to said steering shaft and a second flange on said cap surrounding the edge oi Said Wheel adjacent to the cylindrical flange.

8. n a device of the Class described, a steering column, a sha-ft journaled therein and projecting thereabove, a collar secured to said shaft above said column, a steering Wheel having a hub openA at its top and bottoln and rotatably embracing the collar, Said hub being counterbored to provide an internal annular shoulder underlying the collar, locking means carried by the steering ywheel for engagement with the collar, Vand a nut threaded upon the to-p of the steering shaft and n engagement with the top of the collar and also keyedl to the shaft.

- WILLIAM GANZ. 

